The inferno at the Vasco's Sunday Market complex.
VASCO
Goods worth several crores of rupees were feared destroyed after a devastating fire ripped through Vasco’s Sunday modern market late Wednesday night, gutting around 140 shops and leaving hundreds of traders staring at an uncertain future just days before Diwali.
The massive blaze, which broke out around midnight, turned the two-storey market complex into a raging inferno, reducing shops stocked with clothing and other merchandise to charred ruins.
For many vendors, the fire destroyed not just their investments but their primary source of livelihood, wiping out months of earnings and preparations for the most important festive shopping season.
The tragedy was particularly devastating because traders had stocked up heavily for Diwali, with consignments of clothes and other merchandise arriving from Mumbai and elsewhere earlier on Wednesday.
Within hours of receiving their goods, vendors watched helplessly as stocks worth lakhs of rupees in individual shops were consumed by flames.
